


Light Keeps the Nightmares Out

by drinkginandkerosene



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-03
Updated: 2013-05-03
Packaged: 2017-12-10 07:29:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/783420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drinkginandkerosene/pseuds/drinkginandkerosene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One thing Steve definitely does not do is ask for help, nor does he want cuddles from Tony Stark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light Keeps the Nightmares Out

He’s growing used to the steady blue light that lights up his bedroom at night. It can’t be dimmed by layers such as his t-shirt or the thin blankets that always lay rumpled on his bed. It annoys the heck out of Steve, that mess. In the army, he could never leave a bed in such a state. But this wasn’t the army and this was Stark. 

Steve still feel like a stranger here. He leans in the doorway, watching Tony’s chest rise and fall, the light with it. The nightmares had woken him again, covered in a sweat deeper than skin. They call it PTSD. But Captain America doesn’t get sick. He doesn’t get scared. And one thing that Steve Rodgers absolutely does not do, is kiss the lips of another man, fist his hands in the dark tangles, and want to do a hell of a lot more.

Steve Rodgers definitely does not do that. 

What he does apparently, is lean in the doorway of Iron Man’s bedroom, watching him sleep. Tony had offerred to let Steve live with him, after seeing the state of the blonde man’s small apartment. Maybe he realised Steve was struggling. Or, more likely, he saw the fun that could be orchestrated. But they’d only got into a few fights so far, none serious, and only one about Steve’s more than slight obsessive neatness. Or as he called it; “Doing things the right way.”

“The American way?” Tony was quick to quip, eyebrow raised.

Steve closes his eyes as another bout of shakes hit him. The darkness doesn’t help. It just reminds him of trenches.

“Steve?” Tony’s voice cuts through the darkness as effectively as his light. Steve opens his eyes, breath hitching in his chest. He couldn’t calm down, and he was working himself up to a point reaching hysteria. Tony swung his legs from the bed, marching over, blue eyes searching Steve’s face.

“I- had a nightmare.” Steve manages. He doesn’t mention how it’s technically a memory, or how it’s THE nightmare, the one that replays every night, and everytime he closes his eyes. The only time it goes away is when he’s in his suit. Because nothing can harm Captain America. Not even the past.

“Alright Cap, you need to lie down.” He leads Steve not back to his bedroom like he expected, but Tony’s own bed, pulling the blankets over the taller man’s body before climbing in himself. “It’s very normal after living in a warzone. I mean, I know, I lived with Pepper.” It barely raises a smile. Tony sighs, turning to face Steve properly. “It will go away. Eventually. But you need to talk.”

“To who?”

“Well, you could try me.”

“I’m tired.”

“Me too.”

“Not that kinda tired.”

“Well I got all night.”

Steve pressed his lips together, closing his eyes.

“I’m here every night. You can’t run from me Cap. I know where you live.”

That did raise a smile. Steve returned to Tony’s bed the next night.

Tony was there every night.


End file.
